Grindle, N; (2017) What can students and staff learn from engaging in dialogue about research? Presented at: HEA Annual Conference 2017: Generation TEF: Teaching in the Spotlight, Manchester, UK.

Slideshow Meet the researcher talk HEA 20170706.pptx Download (4MB)

Abstract

This presentation reviews initial findings from a collaborative research project involving over 600 undergraduate students and 100 academic staff at a large research-intensive UK university. These students and staff have participated in versions of an activity called ‘meet the researcher’. The activity currently runs in seven departments (Statistics, Biosciences, Psychology, Linguistics, Planning, and the BASc degree). It varies slightly from programme to programme but in each case involves students working in groups to develop a dialogue with staff about their research activity and then sharing their findings. Anecdotal evidence suggests that ‘Meet the researcher’ activities (which are sometimes called ‘staff-student interviews’) have a long history in higher education but the few pieces of published research only describe isolated examples of the genre. Our research looks at whether the activities are seen by students and staff as being an effective means of involving students, at an early stage of their university career, in the specific questions, problems and processes that shape a research-intensive environment. Drawing on extensive data, the presentation will sketch the students’ response to the question: ‘what did you learn from participating in the “Meet the Researcher” activity?’. It will also outline our findings about the lecturer’s views of what they think their students learned, as well as about how the conversations have challenged their own views about the research-teaching nexus in the context of undergraduate degree programmes. Our early research has identified some implications for the sector and these will also be presented. The implications include: • Staff perceptions about the relationship between research and teaching on their programme can be shaped through dialogue with students. • Students can be meaningfully engaged with research problems and processes from the beginning of their time at university. • An evidence base for ‘mutual validation’ of excellent subject knowledge and excellent teaching may be found by looking at the activities of a learning community – staff and students in working partnership – rather than at the isolated performance of individual members of staff. The presentation will briefly outline possibilities for follow-up developments. These include using the findings as an evidence base to develop ‘Meet the Researcher’ activities in support of strategic initiatives, as well as fostering dialogue about research to assist more targeted interventions such as supporting students with their academic writing. The presentation also outlines ideas for extending a ‘Meet the Researcher’ activity over the course of a programme so students and staff commit to an expanded dialogue about research that is able to have a profound formative effect on their learning experience.

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